


Gone, Gone, Gone

by gloriousgalaxy



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Escape the Night Season 3, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hospitals, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Loneliness, Pregnancy, Stephanie-centric, Vulnerability, basically just her experience during the events of etn, escape the night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-18 16:27:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15489969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloriousgalaxy/pseuds/gloriousgalaxy
Summary: "Be back before midnight!" she calls after him, only half joking. After all, this baby could come at any time.He never comes back.





	Gone, Gone, Gone

He's going to a party. A 70s-themed party. She doesn't want to be one to control her husband's life, but in the last two years, about twenty YouTubers have been kidnapped at similar parties. She doesn't want him to join that list. "Be safe," she says anxiously. 

"I will," he replies, flashing her a smile. Even now, years after they've gotten married, that smile warms her heart.

"And be back before midnight!" she adds, as he heads for the door. She's only half joking. After all, this baby could come at any time, and he's not taking his phone with him, despite her numerous requests. Apparently, the host is _really_ serious about this 70s theme. It only makes her more nervous.

As the door shuts, she sighs. There's probably nothing to worry about, right? There's a very low chance he'll get.... kidnapped and tortured by a serial killer and then brutally murdered. Right? 

Stephanie stress-reads articles about the other murders. Slowly, she begins to notice things. Their parties were all themed in the past, just like Matt's. They all disappeared at around the same time of year. The same time of year that it is now.

Her fingers tighten on the edge of her chair as she reads more and more about the causes of their deaths, the survivors' retellings of the stories. Something doesn't add up, but she doesn't think too hard about that.

All she can think is that it can't happen to Matt. Fuck, she doesn't even know where he's gone. He never told her who the host was.

She tells herself that she's just paranoid. But the more she thinks about it, the worse she feels.

 _Stop_ , Matt's voice chides her. _That much stress is bad for the baby._

Stephanie sighs shakily and resigns herself to waiting. It's probably nothing. He'll be fine. Right? If anything, he's smart. He's like a super-genius.

She nods to herself. He's smart. He's smart. He's smart.

The clock strikes midnight, and he's still not home.

~

She dozes off at some point, and when she wakes up, Stephanie searches the house. He's not here. She calls the police.

Three hours later, it's on the news. 

 Nine YouTubers have disappeared. It's an awful repeat of a story that's been told twice already.

She doesn't get any sleep that night.

~

She waits.

Time passes. She has the baby one month after Matt disappears. It's a boy, an his name is Ollie, like they planned. But as she cradles him in her arms, she can't help but think... this boy may never have a father.

Then, two months after Ollie is born, it happens.

Three people emerge, as always, from the nine. Or maybe it's ten. Joey Graceffa wasn't counted in the original disappearances after all.

But Matt is alive. He may not be okay, but he's alive. And that's all that matters.

She goes to the hospital as soon as possible. Her heart pounds as she gets his room number, rushes there with Ollie in her arms.

And there he is.

Something inside of Stephanie melts at the fact that the love of her life is really alive, and he's sitting here, in front of her. Their eyes meet and his light up.

She's by his side in a moment, and they share a long kiss. Then, she introduces him to his son. She's only ever seen Matt this happy at their wedding.

There are actually three others, she learns. No one knows who the third woman is. The others say her name is Calliope, and they trust her. The other two are Joey Graceffa, who disappeared last year and was thought to be dead, and a beauty guru named Nikita Dragun.

The hospital releases Matt one week later, after running a series of tests. At the end, one of the doctors tells them that there's a strange phenomenon. There's intense bruising around his head and ribs, and they say that his skull should've collapsed, or cracked, or been visibly damaged. But there's nothing. When they tell them, Stephanie thinks she sees something flash in his eyes, something like recognition. But he claims to feel no pain, so they wrap some bandages around his head and send them off.

When they get home, she asks him about it.

"You wouldn't believe me," he insists.

But she keeps asking, and finally, he caves. He lays Ollie in his crib, and she finally sees how tired he looks. Not physically, but mentally. 

So he begins to tell her about the journey. The clowns, the snake woman, the Man with No Name. And then, the Strong Man.

"I died," he says, so softly she thinks she's misheard him. 

"What?"

"I died," he repeats. "I lost the challenge to Manny, so the Strong Man beat me to death."

She hears the shaking in his voice, and can see tears beginning to well up in his eyes. Steph wraps her arms around him. "But you came back," she says firmly. "You're alive, and that's all that matters."

So they sit there, and he tells the rest of the story. When he finally finishes, she lets him cry on her shoulder.

He's alive. It really is all that matters to her, in that moment.


End file.
